Beer and Technology Conflate at Binary Brewing

Posted on February 14, 2023 by Thebeerchaser

(Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened. External photo attribution is at the end of the post.) #1

The last brewery I visited in 2022 was suggested by my friend and colleague on the Abbey Foundation of Oregon Board (AFO). John Meek is the Immediate Past President of that Board and there were a couple of reasons I thought this was a good option.

First, the current President of the AFO, John Limb – who just retired after serving as the long-time publisher of the Oregon Catholic Press – and I had a great experience at the Chuckanut Brewery late in the fourth quarter. It provided momentum….

And since I’ve focused on breweries and bars on Portland’s east side and Binary is in the heart of Beaverton on Portland’s west side, this would be an opportunity to take what is purported to be newspaper editor and publisher, Horace Greeley’s advice – albeit on a micro level and as an old guy – “Go West….” (#2)

“Go West, Young Man” – but make it farther than Beaverton!!

Third, and I will tell you more about him below, but John Meek is an extremely bright guy – elected to Phi Beta Kappa and a magna cum laud grad in Computer Science from Washington State University. He’s had an outstanding career in the technology sector and, more importantly, likes good beer.

When I go Beerchasing, I try to focus on people smarter than I am. John is a good example…..!

I didn’t know if John was attracted to Binary because of his career – or the beer – or possibly both. Binary is defined as “relating to, composed of, or involving two things.”

The co-owners of Binary Brewing, Josh Johnson and Roger Wood changed the name and rebranded Uptown Brewing – a beer bar, bottle-shop, and homebrew supply shop – and started brewing in 2018.

Their motto is “Good beer is like software – in the end it’s Binary.”

“The Portland area has a long history of beer and technology. Our team brings together experience in both so we chose a name that reflects those two roots. Our goal is to bring start-up excitement back to the craft beer market – developing new beers and revitalizing classic styles for modern tastes.”

Binary had been operating and brewing with a seven-barrel system out of a very small facility located outside the Beaverton city limits.

In July, 2022, after totally refurbishing what used to be the Beaverton Bakery – located in a 135-year old building – on Broadway in the heart of town, they upgraded to a ten-barrel system and enough fermentation vessels to more than quadruple former production. (Oregon Beer News) #3

The result was a compact, but well designed and attractive taproom and brewery in the back with an impressively large picture window showing the brewing hardware:

“The one element that remains as a tribute to the old bakery is a portion of the 1930s era floor near the main entrance—blue-and-gray hand-painted cement that resembles a charming patchwork quilt.” https://www.wweek.com/bars/beer/2022/07/19/binary-brewing-opens-its-pub-and-production-facility-in-beaverton-this-week/

Binary’s plan was ambitious and their new digs allowed them to can and distribute. And the taproom is upscale and mod – unusual for the genre:

“A plant lined skylight adds warmth to the white, black and cold metal blue tones of the taproom with the punch of bright plants to liven up the computer circuitry themed space….

The open windows to the brewing operations are framed with the coolest customized aspect of the taproom, the draft towers that emulate the circuit board art of the Binary logo.” https://newschoolbeer.com/home/2022/7/binary-brewing-opens-in-beaverton

There’s also a separate room with a large community table, a few additional small tables and two old-fashioned pinball machines – a nice touch. A hall leads out to a patio, which is very nice although the picture on their website doesn’t adequately convey it.

The Beer

According to Andre Meunier in his 12/11/19 article in Oregon Live: “(Head Brewer Roger Wood, makes) mostly English and German styles, including pales ales, stouts, a Kolsch and a helles, plus IPAs of course, including hazies”

“One of my favorite parts about Roger’s brewing is … balance is one of our specialties,” (Co-owner) Johnson says. ‘We call it the bitter loop, and it’s that we always want that beer to finish a little bit dry and a little bit bitter — dries out the mouth, and what it does is it makes you want to drink more. Another sip, another pint.'”

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Surprisingly, Binary’s website is not that informative. There is nothing about its history (I got what I could from multiple news and internet articles) which is unfortunate because they have a good story to tell.

And unlike most breweries, there is no description of their beer along with the picture of label. Fortunately, our server, Angela, was very helpful and knowledgeable about the nuances of the beer.

While they have a food menu with prices for their Megabits operation (described below), they don’t have prices for their beer in the taproom – perhaps as noted in a few reviews, that’s because they are a bit pricey – pints are $7 and a flight of five four-ounce pours is $12.

There were twelve beers on tap and at John’s suggestion – which was a good one – we went for two flights to get a better idea of the variety and what we liked. So we got to taste ten of the twelve beers on tap.

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The favorites were Mech 47 – a hazy IPA @ 6.2ABV, Virtual Redality @5.7 and which compared favorably to the red ales which I usually order on brewery visits and the Arrakis – a spiced ale @6.3. The Pinball Pils @5.2 also was a hit. (Since they didn’t have descriptions on the Binary website, I’ve provided the links to Untapd for its reviews.)

To my recollection, we thought that all of the beers rated favorably for our personal tastes.

One reason, I’m disappointed at the lack of description of their beers is that they do a wonderful and creative job with their labels. I’ve shown three of the four mentioned above which were on the website although Arrakis wasn’t shown.

You can see that they also put a lot of creativity into the names of their brews, most of which have clever names related to technology. For example, I loved the “Wheatadore 64” as it brought back old memories!

So why not just give a brief description of each one to help the consumer?! (#4-6)

The Companionship

One of the most valued aspects of my idiosyncratic hobby, is the company I keep when I go Beerchasing. There are some “regulars” who’ve gone on multiple trips such as retired lawyer, Jim Westwood, members of the Faust Clan (Jack, Amy and Charlie) and former colleagues from the Schwabe firm.

The photos below are from Beerchasing at the former Burnside Brewing, Mad Sons’ Pub, Crackerjack’s Pub and The Independent Sports Bar – the first three are gone but not forgotten….a comment on the pandemic’s effect on small hospitality businesses.

While John and I had been to Cooper Mountain Ale Works in Tigard over a year ago, we mostly talked about Mount Angel Abbey issues and I didn’t get to hear much of John’s background. So as we were going through our flights I asked him (and since he is a humble guy) supplemented that with info from Linked-in.

John, since his graduation from college in 1978, has been involved in executive management of tech companies. And his impressive list of positions started the year he graduated with his first job at Timberline Systems.

Most business and professional service people know it’s a good NW firm that develops, markets, and supports accounting and management software for construction, estimating, property management, and architect/engineering industries. (See the link for the interesting history.) (#7)

John-Meek-AR20

In 1986 the company changed its name to Timberline Software Corporation and named John the Vice-president of Research and Development. He worked at Timberline for twenty years and the next ten in senior executive positions at WellMed and WebMD.

Since 2010, he has been self-employed as the Managing Member of

And John, like many people who already have demanding schedules also is a guy with poor refusal skills – he donates a lot of time for active roles in charitable organizations.

These have included the Assistance League of Portland Advisory Council, Special Olympics-Oregon (Chair of the Board since 2014) and the Abbey Foundation of Oregon where he just completed two years as President of the Board and still serves on the Executive Committee.

He and his wife, Sharon, are world-wide travelers and sports people. The left picture is high on the Eiger in Switzerland, while below right shows John scuba diving in Cuba. (#8 – #9)

From May 7th to the 20th John and Sharon Meek and others from the Northwest will join Fr. Odo Recker, O.S.B., and Fr. Timothy Kalange, O.S.B., – two Benedictine monks from the Mount Angel Abbey on a 12-day pilgrimage to Israel and Palestine!

Since my technology skills were never significantly honed and have diminished further since retirement, I tried to impress John (having checked my 9th grade math primer before our visit).

When our tab came to $29, I casually mentioned that it was the equivalent of $11101 in the binary system. I then showed him conceptually, my work for the conversion:

Divide the number by 2.
Get the integer quotient for the next iteration.
Get the remainder for the binary digit.
Repeat the steps until the quotient is equal to 0. (#10)

If only I had Cue Math when I was in 9th grade!

He told me that I should stick to conversations comparing lagers to ales and the nuances thereof…..

Final Observations

We didn’t eat on this trip but Megabits – the in-house restaurant which has an eclectic menu. It includes a number of slider options, three “big” salads and plenty of small bites such as mac & cheese, deviled eggs and cheese curds. Prices appear to be reasonable and the ratings on individual social media and news commentary are good.

Initially, Binary was the only brew pub in downtown Beaverton, but since their opening others have proliferated. They now include Beaverton taprooms for nearby Loyal Legion, Von Ebert, Ex Novo, Great Notion and the (ever-expanding) Steeple Jack Breweries.

Binary is therefore trying to build a “community” through its Mug Club and a number of events which appear to be interesting and creative. (#11-13)

John and I will have to return to check out the patio and see how proficient we are on the Godzilla and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pinball machines and whether we can use artificial intelligence to help! We both thought Binary Brewing was a good experience with very drinkable beers and good ambiance. (#14)

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1 Binary Brewery Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=445502577557729&set=a.402923055149015).

#2 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (Horace Greeley restored – Horace Greeley – Wikipedia) This file was provided to Wikimedia Commons by the National Archives and Records Administration as part of a cooperation project. The National Archives and Records Administration provides images depicting American and global history which are public domain or licensed under a free license.

#3 Binary Brewery Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/binarybrewingco/photos/pb.).

#4 – #6 (https://www.binarybrewing.co/beers)

#7 Mount Angel Abbey Annual Report (https://abbeyfoundationoforegon-annualreport.org/)

#8 – #9 Courtesy of John Meek

#10 Cue Math Website (https://www.cuemath.com/numbers/29-in-binary/)

#11 – #13 Binary Brewing Website (https://www.binarybrewing.co/s/stories).

#14 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons ((Wikimedia Commons (File:BinaryData.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Author: Sérgio Valle Duarte 1999.)

Should Old Acquaintances be Forgot?

Posted on January 28, 2023 by Thebeerchaser

Besides Wayfinder Brewing, which I reviewed in my last Beerchaser post, I’ve been back on the trail the last two months and had first-time visits to a number of breweries and bars that I’ll be sharing with you in future posts.

These include Binary, Von Ebert, and Pono breweries, the Wildwood Saloon and the Basement Pub – the latter a wonderful neighborhood bar on Portland’s SE side. Stay tuned and here’s a preview with some photos below:

That said and without trying to be maudlin at the start of a new year, I feel compelled to recognize three great Portland establishments – two that recently closed and one that will in the next few months. No glitzy brewery with shiny taps and sleek modern furniture can replace them.

“And surely you’ll buy your pint cup!

and surely I’ll buy mine!

And we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,

for Auld Lang Syne.”

The Jolly Roger

A June, 2022 Willamette Week article entitled, “Beloved Southeast Portland Dive the Jolly Roger Is on Its Final Voyage,” relates how co-owners for the last twenty years, Rob and Starr Jackson, negotiated with their landlord for an early exit on their lease.

“Admittedly, civic preservationists may have reason to worry about the Jolly’s truly irreplaceable feature.

Jackson admits there’s no clear plan on what will become of the bar’s justly treasured signage—a majestic freestanding pylon sign shaped like a ship’s mast at a height no longer sanctioned—but it’s evaded the wrecking ball before.”

For twenty years, an eastside landmark!

“….the property was bought by developers whose plans are for a five-story, 100-plus-unit residential complex……’We got destroyed during all the conflicts,’ (Portland protests and riots) Jackson tells WW.

‘No matter how much we tried to fix the building, people kept hurting it, and the police were unavailable to help.’ “ (emphasis added)

(Another sad commentary on the City of Portland’s disastrous inability to protect its streets and businesses during the pandemic.)

Portland’s permitting process is notoriously slow – a blessing for regulars at the JR because the original closing was supposed to be on Super Bowl Sunday. A bartender told me in a phone call today, however, that it has been extended to April or until the developers get the final go-ahead for their project.

I hit the Jolly Roger with my friend and Beerchasing Regular, Hillary Barbour, whose other Beerchasing exploits have included The Verne and Mad Hanna – a Reed College alum who appreciates dive bars….

And the Jolly Roger certainly fits the definition of a classic dive as you can see from the photos below – the cheap beer, video machines, dark and windowless rooms, historic beer signs and the restrooms which defy health department and perhaps contemporary society’s standards. It is memorable and Portlanders will be sorry to see it set sail.

While the SE location will be missed, fortunately the Jackson’s have two other locations – the Jolly Roger at John’s Landing and the Sports Page in Beaverton.

Perhaps the historic ship’s mast should be placed at the top of Portland City Hall. Then all the City would need is a rudder……..!

A Buried Treasure Disappears

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One of the establishments I reviewed in 2016, was one I visited for lunch many times while I was working at the law firm before retirement in 2011. The Schwabe firm was only two short blocks away from Mummy’s – an iconic Egyptian Lounge and Restaurant in the basement of another building.

It was owned by two unforgettable Egyptian brothers, Ghobvial and Phillip Mounir. They bartended, cooked and served the food – they were the only “employees.” They opened Mummy’s in about 1986.

Photo Nov 15, 5 48 26 PM

I used to take some of our Summer Associates (law school clerks) there for lunch. Since we were competing with other law firms to recruit them, these top students were typically wined and dined at Portland’s finest restaurants – Higgins, the Heathman Grille, Jake’s, etc.

To our Recruiting Director’s initial horror, I would usually take them to Mummy’s – that is until without exception, they would tell her that they loved the “tomb experience,” – the ambiance, Pyramid Beer, the brothers’ hospitality and the good Egyptian cuisine:

And the Schwabe managers and my family surprised me after hosting my 2011 retirement dinner at nearby Nel Centro, with an after-dinner reception at Mummy’s – it was memorable – in fact, there is a video someplace in the Ethernet of me reluctantly sharing the floor with a belly dancer, who was performing that night.

The last time I was there was for late afternoon drinks with two of my favorite Schwabe lawyers, Brian (Brain) King and Margaret Hoffman – both skilled litigators who have since retired. We met at the firm at 5:00 and headed on our two-block journey – like a reverse exodus of the Children of Israel.

Even though it had been five years since I had been to their establishment, when I walked in, Ghobvial immediately exclaimed, “Schwabe!” and pointed towards what had been my favorite booth.

Photo Nov 15, 5 22 12 PM

Whether it was the pandemic or the brothers deciding to forsake the daily grind, Mummy’s closed permanently in 2022.

Another possible theory was one I came across today in the Morning Brew newsletter – the ubiquitous arbiters of political correctness conceptually assigned the establishment to the same fate as one of Egypt’s most famous mummies Ramesses the Great, who was evidently ready to depart at the age of 90 after reigning for almost sixty years:

“Because of the many battles he fought, Ramesses’ body showed evidence of healed injuries and arthritis; his arteries were hardened; and he had a large dental infection that might have killed him.” (Photo attribution #1)

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is ramses_i_mummy.jpg

You see, the word “mummy” itself has now been banished or exiled to the toxic waste dump of no-longer acceptable terms.

Examples include “manhole” – now “maintenance hole” ; “unemployed” – now “involuntarily leisured”; “master bedroom” – now “primary suite”; or “wrong” – now “differentially logical”; etc. etc. etc.

And don’t forget elimination of “The Civil War” for the annual Oregon State vs. U of Oregon football game.

“Some museums want you to remember that mummies were once—a really long time ago—people, too. A trio of British museum organizations said they will avoid using the word “mummy” whenever possible, and swap it out with “mummified remains of” or “mummified person.”

Well Mummy’s may be gone, but it will not be forgotten – neither the name, the brothers, the food nor the ambiance and charm.

Sloan’s Tavern – Goodbye and Keep on Truckin’

One of Portland’s most iconic neighborhood bars closed on December 30, 2022 as reported by Willamette Week in an article: “Sloan’s Tavern is Remember by Regulars and Former Employees Following Its Closure“:

“(Sloan’s) closed for good Dec. 30 following Sloan’s sale of the property to developers— they plan to build a seven-story apartment building on the land, and (Shirley) Sloan will settle into a well-earned retirement.

Nostalgic well-wishers spent the last few weeks of 2022 coming by for one last visit and often to learn just how little they really knew about the establishment.”

And why do I describe this establishment as “iconic”? Well, just check the photo of the exterior wall on its west side in the photos I took when I reviewed the bar in 2016 – you can also view a younger Beerchaser from that visit….

Co-owner Bob Sloan also owned a body shop (Sloan’s Custom Body and Paint) next door and did skilled body and restorative work on classic autos. His specialty, however, was working on Freightliner Trucks which is evident from the exterior wall and a Freightliner grill built right into the bar.

When a café next door to the body shop run by an elderly lady closed, they bought the property and opened the bar in 1979. (The entire property was originally a creamery that opened in 1926.) Some reviews labeled it a “dive bar,” but it is no such thing.

When I interviewed this charming and classy lady in 2016, Shirley described Sloan’s as “My living room.”

The Bridgetown Bites blog conveys the décor aptly:

“Notable elements of the décor there at Sloan’s is the ‘frozen in time’ 1970s look inside; the semi-truck cab jutting out from the building; and the Chicago Coin Band-Box jukebox, a rare thing to find anywhere in the U.S. (it’s estimated there are only about 10 of them operating around the country).

Put in a quarter and you’ll see the figurines at the top dancing and playing the musical instruments in their hands, in time to whatever tune you picked (mostly Country music).”

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I was joined on my visit to Sloan’s by friends “West Coast” Dave Hicks, a San Francisco consultant with whom I worked in law firm days and John Horvick. People in the NW will recognize< John as an oft-quote political and polling consultant at the respected firm DHM Research and with whom I served on the Board of the City Club of Portland.

The three of us enjoyed the ambiance and the food (essentially home-cooked since it’s Shirley’s living room….). I’m sure they join me and other Portlanders who said farewell to this Albina area neighborhood institution. It’s one of a number of bars that will now exist only in our good memories.

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May Shirley Sloan have a wonderful retirement and let’s hope the Oregon Historical Society or some other protector of historical artifacts gains possession of the Chicago Coin Band-Box jukebox.